Roses of Dreams
by LaraClover
Summary: When Akito inspires Shigure to write something new, Mitsuru eagerly starts reading the manuscript, expecting it to be another of his cheesy romance novels. What she doesn't know is that, although the novella starts off with some apparent clichés, these will soon transform into a different kind of story that was created for the sole purpose of scaring her.
1. Prologue

Shigure was writing another of his many romance novels. It was so satisfying to write something so bad, only for it to be loved and praised by all. It was fun to laugh and cringe and lazily write away without ever having to worry about the quality, and to subtly reuse the same plots and characters without anybody really noticing. And then he never had to keep to his deadlines, because that was his editor's problem, not his own... Oh, the bliss of never working hard!

But there was one thing he didn't like about carelessly penning away in his office chair while his wife was pacing in a corner, and that was the part about his wife pacing in the corner. Akito didn't like his stories. He knew she secretly read them anyway and sometimes even enjoyed certain scenes, but he also knew her disgust at his mushy sexualized romance, cheap plot clichés, and one-dimensional characters. And he could feel her disgust as she bent over behind him, peering over his shoulder at what he was writing.

"What pleasure," muttered Akito, "do you take out of writing the same ugly story with the same stupid characters over and over again? I would be sick..."

Normally, he would've replied with one of the teasing comments that he kept in the front pocket of his brain, but realizing he was actually writing the same story he wrote a couple weeks ago, he turned around to dear Akito and asked:

"What kind of story would you like me to write?"

She blinked. She hadn't expected him to ask that question. Shigure laughed gently and held her skinny fingers in his palm, waiting for whatever she was going to reply.

She marched to the window as if she felt defeated, but then she turned around and said:

"Something unexpected. Let's surprise Mitsuru. And put a dead rat or a dead cat or a dead little girl in it somewhere: I just can't resist."

They brainstormed for a while. It was getting dark outside and there were lanterns in some of the windows outside, giving the neighborhood a sort of eerie glow, and the magic of that glow put a wicked smile onto his face. He knew exactly what kind of story he wanted to write, and he sat in the light of the rising moon and let the inspiration flow.

Mitsuru was nervous. That devil Shigure was supposed to deliver a new manuscript to her today, and she knew from experience that he would never ever ever possibly hand it in today, and then she would have to come bother him, and then he would bother her, and he was so cruel to her, and she couldn't bear it! What words could she use to persuade him to write faster? How could she express her authority and defend herself against such a man?

But then she noticed a strange thing. There, in her mailbox, sat a package of papers! It was a manuscript: a novella, right there before her! She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She cradled it in her arms, almost afraid to touch it, as if it could shatter her dreams and wake her up.

When finally, she gently tore open the paper, she saw a sketch of a girl quite like herself, only with much longer hair, surrounded by two male figures, with many rose vines and a starlit sky all around them. The one looked like the typical dominant male in many cliché love stories: muscular, proud, somewhat threatening, and looking at her as if she were his possession. The other was slim and looked more effeminate, but also darker in some way. A werewolf and a vampire, perhaps? Though the "werewolf" characters didn't usually wear such princely clothing and the "vampires" weren't usually laughing like that... Curious, she looked up to the title which read "The Roses of Dreams", and flipped the page.


	2. Chapter 1: Giggles in the Forest

_He held my arm politely and stared at me. I felt my heart pounding. His hand was tight around my elbow. His eyes pierced into my face. Still holding me in his firm grip, he shoved me into a gap between the thick bushes of the dense forest. I gasped for breath as he pressed himself close to me._

 _"Love is a jungle," I whispered._

 _"An adventure," said Katsuo in his loud, princely voice. "And in the end, we will have victory."_

 _I giggled, but the words sounded strange on his tongue. Something was off, but Katsuo seemed to feel right in place, with his arm around me, smothering his body against me. I smiled as he pressed his moist lips to mine, as his warm, sweaty hand crept up my back, but I wasn't sure how I really felt... I felt weird, as if someone was watching us..._

 _"It's you! Kaito Wakahisa, my sworn enemy!" Katsuo yelled with a shock, jumping backwards. He landed on his feet, nearly fell over, but caught himself just in time, and he appeared to be so proud of this that he patted himself on the shoulder, chest held high. Then he glanced in my direction: I had tumbled into the blackberry thorns. Katsuo held his hand out so politely to help me get up, but Kaito smacked his thick, well-mannered hand to the side. I reached my arms out for help. Kaito bent down onto the ground next to me, lying in the thorns and pushing me upwards, away from them. Katsuo put his arm around me protectively, while Kaito studied the thorns on the ground, and then plucked them gently out of my back._

 _The two men then stood and faced each other. I felt a shiver go through my body as my big, brown eyes watched the two men, two men so very different. Katsuo was big and strong, a cross between a gorilla and a true Prince Charming, his huge chest always upright, his dark hair always neatly combed back, his face so polite, so serious, a proper gentleman, his face perfectly symmetrical. Kaito was small and had a frailer, more feminine posture, with caramel-colored streaks of hair that fell in front of his deep, black eyes and the horizontal scar across his brow. His clothes, like his eyes and his scar, were dark as the night, but his smile was as light as his hair in the sun, even as he stood now in the shadows._

 _"Do you know the fortress next to the stream?" he asked. His body was turned towards Katsuo, but his eyes faced mine. I looked straight back into him, and my fear seemed to float away._

 _"Who are you talking to, kind sir, and what brings you here?" Katsuo asked, calling everyone 'kind sir', as if by habit. I usually considered this a cute trait of his, but today I felt it was inappropriate._

 _"Both of you," said Kaito, "do you know the fortress?"_

 _"I've heard it's haunted," I muttered, "and that no one ever returns."_

 _"Silly rumors," said Kaito. "That's where I live. Feel free to come visit tomorrow, both of you."_

 _"Of course it would be rude to deny this request," spoke Katsuo firmly, "but may I ask the purpose of us visiting you?"_

 _Kaito looked back and forth between Katsuo and me, and it was quiet for a while. Then suddenly, without a warning, Kaito started laughing, softly at first, but then louder, and louder, and louder! I felt uneasy, afraid... I looked towards my dear Katsuo for comfort and protection, but instead, with a flash, I saw his horrified face! How it was absolutely hilarious! I gave a gasp, then started chuckling._

 _"What are you laughing at?" Katsuo asked pompously, lifting his brave chest, still exposing his big muscles. He looked like a gorilla attempting to be a prince. His clothes were too tight and his face was trying way too hard not to be ugly._

 _I couldn't help myself. My chuckles got louder and louder, until I was whooping with laughter! Not daring to take another look at the pretentious Katsuo, I now turned towards Kaito, who was still laughing as well, and we looked straight into each other's faces, our laughs echoing one another, growing more and more surrealistic, as if this was just a dream... I grew dizzy, faint, and the world around her grew fainter, black spots floating around like a mist, black like Kaito's dark eyes, but his smile was the last think I saw before I passed away... or perhaps only passed out..._


End file.
